It is Master’s week, in my estimation there is no better event during the golf calendar. Last year I recounted the performance of the Gary Player, Tom Watson, and Jack Nicklaus group in the par 3 tournament. Watson won at age 68 and all three were under par. The highlight was Jack’s nephew making a hole in one on the ninth hole-Grandpa Jack, was very proud. The tournament has been played since 1934, although the name changed in 1939 to the Masters. The first winner was Horton Smith and he walked away with a $1500 prize. This year the winner will pocket $1.98 million and the priceless Green Jacket that is his forever. There are many memorable shots that have highlighted the event, I will not forget Jack Nicklaus’s fabulous finish in 1986 at the age of 46 to win his sixth Green Jacket – shooting a back nine round of 30. I remember the Tiger Wood’s chip on the treacherous sixteenth when his famous shot up the steep green slowly trickled back down – falling in on the last roll apparently propelled by the Swoosh logo. So much history. In 1935, Gene Sarazen won the tournament in large part with his “spoon”. On the challenging par five fifteenth hole over the pond, Sarazen used what is today the loft of a 4 wood club and hit the “shot heard round the world” – the ball landed on the green and went in for a double eagle.
A double eagle, or three under par on a hole is also called an albatross. A hole in one on a par four is an albatross. The odds of this occurring are estimated to be 6 million to one. Sarazen won 49 tournaments in his excellent career so perhaps his odds were a bit lower. Skill does seem to influence the odds as the average golfer faces odds of 12,000 to one against making a hole in one. A tour players odds are 3000 to one. What are the odds of a player making two ones in a round- 67 million to one. Sam Snead made 35 hole in ones in his storied career and coincidentally Palmer, Nicklaus, and Woods each have 20. At 101 years of age, Norman Manley, of California aced the 108 yard 16th at Deerfield for his 59th. Finally, I do not expect to make a condor – four under on one hole – yes it has been done – an ace on a par 5. This has happened 4 times and the odds are not calculated.
My nephew Carson is an exceptional golfer, he has never made a hole in one in spite of being the State Amateur champion and carrying a scratch handicap. He does have one of the rare albatrosses made in a National USGA event with a 2 on a par 5. His Pepperdine College roommate, Jason Gore made one in the 2017 PGA players championship. Not sure about those odds.
I hope you find time to enjoy the Master’s which will be won this year by Jordan Spieth. Well, I can hope but his odds are 16-1 in spite of a painful year for the young player.
Just when I believed we would never see a “black hole”, with the possible exception of current national leadership, eight Earth based telescopes coordinated the capture of two space phenomenon. M-87 is 54 million light years away and has 3.5 billion times the mass of our sun. The picture is amazing!
Steven Hawking remains an inspiration, he battled ALS for nearly fifty years all the while advancing our knowledge of theoretical physics and cosmology, he collaborated on gravitational singularity and general relativity including a prediction that black holes must emit radiation—Hawking radiation. Hawking felt, “one of the basic rules of the Universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist…without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet….however difficult life may seem there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you just don’t give up.”
May the odds be with you. Mike